


Unseen

by impish_nature



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Shenanigans, The trouble with time travel..., terrible ideas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 15:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20391976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impish_nature/pseuds/impish_nature
Summary: If it's not broke don't fix it.And if it is broke- perhaps its best not to fiddle with it.





	Unseen

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: @fexiled “Please don’t let me be alone.” and “I’m right here, okay?”  
Warning: Panic attacks and some mild injuries.
> 
> AN: The ‘real’ one. AKA not me tricking you into thinking this will be some good old hurt/comfort. XD

"So this is- run this past me again, Sixer?"

Ford laughed, unphased by Stan's bewilderment. He was trying his best and he really was interested, much like when they were kids and that was all that mattered really. He passed the small device from hand to hand again, the pair of them sat on the floor of the lounge much like they would have when they were much, much younger and had no cares for aching old bones and unwieldy muscles. "Right, this is what is known in the multiverse as time tape-"

"They really couldn't come up with a better name than that?"

"Well what would you call it?" He showed the item to his brother once more, letting him get a full look at what really was a nondescript device. He couldn't help but grin cheekily as Stan rolled his eyes at him and gestured for him to continue.

"Alright, I'll bite, it does just look like a tape measure to me so I'm struggling to believe you that it's anything else."

"Fair. But I've seen these before." Ford found himself staring wistfully at the device, tightening his grip around it unconsciously. What he wouldn't have given to have had this years ago... He shook himself. "Apparently the kids are familiar with them too, which is why they gave it to me."

"And, how exactly are the kids familiar with time travel?"

"I was hoping you could answer that one." Ford paused as Stan shook his head. "Pity. Both of them got quite caught up in the story and I fear I got lost along the way."

Stan snorted. "You mean, Mabel took over story telling?"

"Not quite. They both spoke over one another so much that it was hard to follow either one of them." 

Stan barked out more laughter, shaking his head. "Something to ask them about when they're back here for the holidays. But not important right now."

"Quite." Ford's smile brightened, mind back to the task at hand. "So this time tape- or whatever you want to call it, please don't interrupt me again- is a localised time machine. It transports the person holding it, and anyone holding onto them, back in time by however far you pull-" He went to go through the motions before his hand twitched to a halt. "Probably best not to demonstrate."

Stan raised an eyebrow. "You mean you_ don't_ want to go back in time?"

"Well, not quite yet." Ford frowned, toying with the device again. "Not that we should go too far, I just thought it might fun in a novelty kind of way, or perhaps to escape... future hassle we may encounter." 

"That's fair. The past is in the past, right, Sixer?"

Ford smiled again. "Right. But for now, we need to make sure this thing is working correctly. The kids found it somewhere in town, after the rift closed up again and I'm not entirely sure what all of that might have done to it- or what it was even doing there in the first place."

"Surely the best way to check that is to use it?"

Ford raised an eyebrow. "And get stuck in the past if it only works for one more trip?"

Stan shrugged. "Do you know how to make one of these things?"

"...No."

"Or how to actually fix it?"

"...Fair point." Ford sighed, staring at it thoughtfully. "I guess a few minutes wouldn't hurt, right? Just go back 5- maybe 10 minutes to make sure it can deal with a short journey."

"And if it doesn't work or it gets us stuck then we've only got rid of 10 minutes from our life span." Stan grinned as Ford punched him in the arm. "Aww, come on, Sixer! You obviously want to have some fun with it otherwise you wouldn't have told me about it!"

Ford huffed playfully, rolling his eyes as Stan rubbed at his forearm as if he'd actually hurt him. "You always were a bad influence."

"Lies. Lies and slander, I am a_ fun _influence." Stan gripped Ford's sleeve where they sat opposite one another, eyes on his watch as he did so. "Let's do this already!"

The enthusiasm was infectious, a buzz of adrenaline, that age old childish curiosity that they had lost, reignited between them once more. Ford couldn't help the bright eyed warmth that seemed to spread through his entire body as his brother sat impatiently waiting for him to take him on their first mini adventure. 

He took a deep breath, hoping against hope that this would be the start of a long series of them. Hoped that this would be just the smallest taste of what was to come as they sailed out across the seas together.

He pulled the tape, watched the minutes on it tick by. "Ready?"

"I was ready ages ago, Sixer, you're the one taking so long."

Ford laughed, letting the tape snap back-

And with it felt a snapping tug at the back of his neck, unlike anything he had felt before.

He felt Stan fall in the opposite direction, his hand yanked from his sleeve with little to no resistance.

The tape burned in his hand, sparking brightly and crackling with the intensity. His reflex was to drop it, unable to stop his body from flinching away from the searing metal.

It fell with a resounding crack to the floor, breaking into a haphazard pile of pieces that spread across the wood.

"Well, that was more painful than expected." Ford shook his hand, wincing at the raw, red skin. "But I guess it could have been worse, right?"

There was no response.

Ford's eyes snapped away from his hand, paranoia and fear setting in.

"Stan?"

~~~

The world seemed to have stopped. 

Ford blinked, his eyes flitting between his brother before him and the room around them, not wanting to really take his eyes off of Stan for more than a few seconds at a time.

There was a pale haze of blue to the edges, a soft strange glow that grew more vibrant the further away it was and morphed the room into distorted shapes at his peripherals. 

He swallowed, nausea sinking in.

_It's not the mindscape, it's not the mindscape, it's not-_

It was still something, however. Something unfamiliar and therefore dangerous.

There was a shift of movement, catching his attention once more. His eyes snapped back to Stan, watching him groan and sit back up, rubbing the back of his head and wincing all the while.

"Stan? Are you alright?"

Ford shuffled closer to him from his seated position, cringing as his burnt palm touched the floor and knocked into the pile of- well, what was left of the time tape between them. He hadn't quite realised how much it stung until that moment, too preoccupied, too concerned. He crouched down in front of his brother, checking him over. 

It was the frightening lack of response though that was really getting to him.

"Stan? Can you hear me?"

"Ford?"

Ford gave a sigh of relief, sitting back ever so slightly, that is until he saw Stan's expression. It was caught between fear and shock, eyes darting wildly around the room as if he could see something Ford couldn't.

Or perhaps couldn't see-

"Stan? Can you-"

"Ford?" Stan pushed himself up, Ford reeling back without thought as Stan almost fell into him in his attempt to stand. He watched his brother blink rapidly, shaking his head and pulling off his glasses before sitting them back on his nose. "Sixer? Come on, this- this isn't funny."

"I'm right here, Stan. Just- come on!" Ford growled, pushing himself up to stand in front of Stan. He knew it was futile, knew there had to be more to it than simply hoping but it was a struggle to focus on the objective at hand whilst the ever present urge to comfort his brother had risen to take over his protective senses.

"Five minutes- five minutes you said. Into the past no less! You should have been here before I was- right?" Stan's eyebrows furrowed, turning slowly in his spot. "We were here five minutes ago so- well he should have been explaining time travel to me all over again and getting frustrated because he'd already forgotten that telling future me something doesn't make past me understand."

Ford gave a hysterical chirp of laughter, closing his eyes as his mind drifted to the image. Oh, how he wished that had happened- and it would have too- he would have entirely forgotten that Stan had no clue what he was talking about, he would have rambled away, watching Stan smile bemusedly and disbelieve him because how could you prove something like that when you hadn't thought to in the future?

Ok, that was a weird thought- time travel really did make it hard to think in a straight line.

"If you've gotten yourself distracted by something interesting, you oblivious genius, I swear to-" 

The pained choked off sentence made Ford freeze, his eyes pinging open as his heart lodged in his throat.

As it was Stan seemed to be staring straight through him, Ford shivering at the notion, the ghostly apparition who could do nothing but watch and listen and _do nothing at all to help_.

"No. No, no, no-"

Ford frowned, staring downwards, mind locked on Stan's expression, unable to comprehend. It wasn't until he had to dive out of the way as Stan launched forward that he followed his line of sight, watched him scramble to pick up the shell of the time tape and watch more of it's innards trickle down onto the floor. 

"I know it was my idea but if you've gotten yourself stuck somewhere again, all because of a goddamn-"

"Hey, Stan- come on, it's OK." Ford shuffled over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, though he didn't feel like he was truly touching him. He knew that it was futile, a useless endeavour. But seeing his brother so desperate, so _distraught _was tearing his heart asunder.

"I can't do this- not again." Stan swallowed, hands still struggling with the roll of tape as he tried to shove it back in its container. "I can't- I can't fix this! If you couldn't, how am I going to?!" He let the pieces drop, tugging at his hair, his breathing becoming heavy and intermittent. "You can't do this to me- I can't bring you back from this- oh god, not again, please don't let me be alone again-"

"You're not alone- I'm right here, please hear me, Stan, I'm right-" Ford sighed, resting his head on Stan's shoulder with an irritated groan. It wasn't fair! This shouldn't have happened! It was just a little bit of fun, just a fun little adventure to set off their many adventures.

What on earth was going on?

Why was this happening?

"Ford? Is that you?"

Ford's head whipped up, his neck creaking with exertion. The pieces of time tape suddenly scattered in front them both, one spinning and rolling right under the couch. He frowned, eyes skittering about before they fell once more to the empty space in front of both of them, his burnt palm tingling at the sensation of knocking pieces flying unintentionally.

Was he- was it that simple?

"A time bubble." Ford choked out, slightly hysterical as he looked about them both once more. "It created a time bubble to contain the energy we created." 

If he was create, time would fluctuate, speed up in increments to distort the bubble until the last of the energy could be released entirely. With that in mind, he shifted in front of Stan, eyes clamped to his and ready- even if it was only for a moment, he had to use that moment to his advantage.

Stan flinched, hand going up to his shoulder, confusion spreading as if he felt a presence there and Ford felt a pang of relief that his theory was proving correct. He took a deep breath, waiting until Stan locked eyes with him, the first moment of recognition seeping through as he gasped. a sound filled with reassurance that Ford couldn't quite give him.

"Stan? It's going to be OK, OK- just- Stan?" The look vanished as quickly as it appeared, fear and helplessness taking over once more as Stan's eyes darted about around him. "Damn it all!"

"Ford? No, come back- what do I need to do? Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it, OK?"

Ford closed his eyes, the panic had left his brother's face, at least a little, to be eclipsed by determination and that ever present desperation. He just wanted to help and he couldn't- Ford knew what that felt like right now.

But at least Stan didn't have to watch like he did.

Though he wondered what was worse- his stomach shifting nauseatingly at the thought of looking up and Stan just being- gone.

But at least the fear was fraying, Stan went back to the pieces of time tape in his hands with more vigour. He knew Ford was alive, and in the room, even if he couldn't see him, so the viscous bubbling panic attack seemed to have been for now, abated. Ford just wished he could be there beside him, coaching him through it as his hands shook violently and the pieces cascaded, leaving him cursing and twitching, trying to regain his composure.

There really was nothing to be done, but then again, Stan never had been one to just sit around and wait. 

Ford retrieved the piece that had rolled under the couch, dropping it loudly in front of Stan, before checking his watch. It would be his next timer, and his next test in his theory. It was all he could do on his side too, and it was slowly destroying him to watch and wait- maybe it had never been a part of his nature either.

It made him think of darker times. Of what he would have seen all those years ago, after he'd fallen through the portal.

Stan's gasp pulled him out of the dark spiral, snapped him back into the present- or whatever this place could be called- as the small piece of metal clattered straight in front of his face. 

Ford checked his watch- four minutes, there was a difference of four minutes.

So if it had started off at five, pushing him five minutes into the future instead of the past-

Well, at least they were getting somewhere with the waves of temporal space alignment.

He shuffled back in front of his brother, thinking up what the best words would be to say, in the shortest way possible.

"Don't worry. Just breathe."

"Don't- I hate you so much right now."

Ford huffed. At least it was a start.

~~~

He felt the very air shift around him when the worlds aligned, like a sudden tilt to the earth at his feet, an inaudible pop as the blue haze dissipated and left the room it's usual dark wood, the edges of his vision clearer than it felt like they had been in years.

He gave a sigh, his shoulders relaxing as he realised just how locked up his muscles had become. The wait had been torturous, his image flitting into view for Stan every so often but never for long enough. It was like white noise, static filled radios and broken old tv sets that just wouldn't find the channel you were looking for no matter how close to the correct input you got. 

But now, now he was back.

And Stan wasn't looking at him.

He'd stopped a while ago, giving him only fleeting glances before returning to the tape in his hands. He'd been fitting it together crudely, a puzzle he could crack if he only worked at it hard enough.

Ford swallowed at the small rivulets of blood that were dripping from the haphazard device, the way his brother's eyes were fixated on it.

Stan's mantra had changed at some point when Ford wasn't paying attention, his ears only now just catching it as he moved closer.

"I can fix this, I can fix this-"

"Stan?"

Stan's eyes flitted to him again for the slightest second before getting back to his work. His hand tightened around the plastic, not even hissing as it cut deeper into his flesh.

"Stan! Stop." Ford rushed forward, pushing down on his hands. He felt his brother freeze, used the moment to twist and tug until the device came loose and fell to the floor once more, it's green case now smeared and speckled but that didn't matter. Not to Ford, who was too busy looking over Stan's hands, hissing in sympathy as he ran soft soothing fingers around the small wounds. "It's OK. You can stop."

"F-Ford?"

Ford looked up, Stan's eyes locked onto him as if he couldn't quite believe it. He jolted at the tears beginning to form, the watery eyes so unusual, even after everything they'd been through.

"Hey, it's OK, I'm here, see?"

Stan's shaking hand reached out, filled with trepidation and fear and stopping mere inches from Ford. He tried to wait patiently, not wanting to make any sudden moves that would freak his brother out further, but it was so difficult to watch him hesitate, so fearful, so worried to lose him again.

He didn't need to worry though, his heart breaking and healing all at once as his brother lurched forward in one quick jolting movement, burying his head in his shoulder and wrapping his arms around him as if afraid he'd vanish as soon as he let go.

Ford curled around him instinctively, protectively, a litany of comfort falling from his lips as he waited for the shaking to subside.

"I'm right here, Okay? I'm right here."

~~~

"Hey, Sixer?"

"Yes, Stan?"

"I think we went too far."

Ford blinked, the earlier conversation playing in his head. He gave a raspy chuckle, more pain than relief. "Yeah. Yeah, I think we did."

"Should probably leave time travel to the professionals." Stan coughed out, his face scrunching up as if he hated to admit to that fact.

"Quite. I think I heard a wise man once say that the past was in the past." Ford felt a squeeze for his efforts, propping his head on top of Stan's and closing his eyes, glad for the moment of comfort that was melting the helpless hopeless feeling that had bubbled up before.

Stan huffed, a self-deprecating noise. "Not smart enough to not panic when you vanished for literally- what? less than hour?"

Ford hushed him, rocking him ever so slightly. "I mean, it wasn't like I just left to go to the store or something, I physically vanished in front of your eyes. If it had been the other way around-" His breathing hitched, a shudder flitting through him at the mere suggestion. "It doesn't bear thinking about." 

He sighed as Stan refused to answer, still clinging tightly to his jacket. A small thought entered his mind though, his smile curling up as a distraction came forth to ease the atmosphere and soften the blow.

"Still, smart enough not to call the professionals 'Time Police'."

Silence permeated the room, quiet enough that you could have heard a pin drop.

Instead it was just the silent chuckles of a scientist as his brother stared at nothingness in utter disbelief.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Not at all."

"Time police... time tape... who runs that show?"

"...Trust me, you don't want to know."

Stan shook his head, amusement beginning to fizzle through the fear. "You know, what? I really don't. I think I've had enough of time travel to last me a life time." He looked at Ford hesitantly. "I mean, there's better adventures waiting for us in the present, right Sixer?"

Ford's smile widened, brightening into a grin that was mirrored on his twins face. 

"Yeah, there's much better adventures right here and now."

**Author's Note:**

> This is fic 100 <3 how cool is that ^o^


End file.
